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Definitions of Editorial Skills

Editing involves carefully reviewing material before it is published and suggesting or making changes to correct or improve it. The editor must communicate clearly and tactfully with all team members, and clearly mark and convey changes, suggestions, and directions. In all cases, the editor should strive to make all changes without altering intended meaning or introducing errors.

The editor should also be aware of the legal and ethical dimensions of the publishing process, including issues involving copyright, plagiarism, libel, privacy protection, and confidentiality, and the need to address biased, non-inclusive, and offensive material.

People who edit use a broad range of terms to describe what they do. The following are definitions of the skills most commonly required for editing English-language material. The core skills are also covered in more detail in Editors Canada's Professional Editorial Standards.

The definitions will be ratified by members at the annual general meeting in June 2019.

CORE SKILLS

Structural Editing

Assessing and shaping draft material to improve its organization and content. Changes may be suggested to or drafted for the writer. Structural editing may include:

distinguishing between printer's, designer's, or programmer's errors and writer's or editor's alterations

copyfitting

flagging or checking locations of art

inserting page numbers or checking them against content and page references

Note that proofreading is checking a work after editing; it is not a substitute for editing.

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

Acquisitions Editing

Evaluating proposals or manuscripts to ensure their fit with the publisher's mandate, guidelines, and other titles, as well as their commercial potential. It includes:

assessing the quality, originality, accuracy, currency, and significance of written expression

estimating the editing required

pitching selected manuscripts to the publisher or editorial committee

It may also include:

developing relationships with agents

contracting and liaising with writers

researching underserved topics, themes, or trends and soliciting manuscripts to fill these areas

identifying promising writers from whom to solicit manuscripts

Comparative Editing

Comparing the content of a translated text to its source text to ensure the translation is faithful to the original. Comparative editing often includes aspects of stylistic editing and copy editing, and should be done by an editor fluent in both the source language and the target language.

Electronic Coding or Tagging

Inserting codes or styles into a document to indicate the document hierarchy and design elements.

Fact Checking

Checking the accuracy of facts, citations, and quotes by referring to the writer's original sources or to other authoritative sources.

Also known as citation checking or reference checking.

Formatting

Creating a formatted document, web page, or ebook from an electronic file according to the client's or designer's instructions or template. It may include:

sizing and placement of art

setting front and back matter

establishing design

creating cover art

applying CSS tags

formatting indexes

Also known as desktop publishing or production design.

Indexing

Producing an alphabetical (or otherwise ordered) list of names, places, subjects, and concepts that appear in a work. It includes:

reading and analyzing the work

identifying significant subjects within the work and relationships between them

Manuscript Evaluation

Assessing the content and organization of a work, and commenting in depth on such factors as characterization, dialogue, setting, plot, structure, subject relevance, believability, research required, and potential legal issues. It also involves evaluating:

technique and style

clarity

voice

tone

reading level

audience appropriateness

It may include providing detailed comments on the marketability of the work and suggesting ways to make it more marketable. This evaluation is intended to guide the writer or publisher through the process of rewriting or editing the work.

Also known as critiquing.

Production Editing

Coordinating and supervising design, formatting, and proofreading stages, and ensuring integration of design and content. It may include:

Project Editing

Coordinating all stages of a project, from an initial proposal or draft material to the final product, and incorporating input from the writer and any others involved with the project. If necessary, getting all approvals throughout the process. Can also involve coordinating long-term projects, such as major websites. It may include:

editing

budgeting

scheduling

hiring or supervising non-editorial professionals, such as designers and programmers

Also known as developmental editing or editorial management.

Rewriting

Creating new material based on content supplied by a writer. It may include:

research

writing original material

fact checking

Also known as book doctoring.

Visual Research

Locating suitable still images, artwork, illustrations, maps, diagrams, or footage. It may include:

reading the work and composing lists of visuals

preparing permissions logs

setting and maintaining budgets

locating copyright holders

arranging for and supervising photo shoots

organizing images for scanning

acquiring images of appropriate quality in electronic file form

preparing image descriptions and artists' biographical information

obtaining permission releases (including model and location releases)

writing labels, captions, or source lines

preparing acknowledgement copy

negotiating usage fees

requesting licences and invoices

sending final usage letters

It may also include fulfilling contractual obligations, such as requesting complimentary copies for contributors or sample pages for approval, updating clients' rights management databases, and submitting final permissions logs and paperwork.

Also known as image research, picture research, or photo research.

Web Editing

Editing and updating the content of web pages, including text, images, and links. It includes:

checking links to ensure they point to the right places

checking that link text accurately reflects where the link goes

reorganizing or revising print copy for the web

editing or writing web copy according to web-writing best practices

proofreading final websites and checking for consistency on all site elements